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Indigenous youth are creating new languages, something that is very rare across the globe. Flickr/Rusty Stewart, CC BY-SA

By now we know that traditional Indigenous languages are losing speakers rapidly and tragically. Of the 250 languages once spoken in Australia, only 40 remain and just 18 of these are still learnt by children. But if children in remote Indigenous communities aren't still learning traditional languages, then what are they learning? It is generally assumed they are shifting to English, but this is not the case.

In many areas of northern and central Australia, language loss has been accompanied by language genesis. Indigenous youth are creating new languages which combine the sounds, words and grammar from traditional languages and Indigenous English varieties. The younger generations who create these languages claim them as in-group languages which express both their traditional heritage and modern lives.

The most widespread of these new languages is a creole language, also called Kriol (confusingly), now spoken by at least 20,000 Indigenous people across northern Australia, from Cape York to Broome. Astonishingly most non-Indigenous Australians have never even heard of it.

What is "Kriol"?

Kriol is the result of successive generations of Indigenous language speakers learning English as a second language. It combines words from English with the semantics and sounds from Indigenous languages. The grammar of Kriol is a compromise between English and Indigenous languages. Often words from local Indigenous languages are also used to give Kriol a regional flavour.

Misunderstandings between English and Kriol speakers abound. If a Kriol speaker asks you for a "kopi", you might not know whether they mean a "coffee" or "copy of something" because Kriol doesn't differentiate "f" and "p". The consequences of misunderstandings can be severe. For example, the Kriol verb "kilim" is derived from "kill him", but in Kriol, it means "hit".

Most recently, linguists have begun to observe the emergence of new languages which have more content from traditional Indigenous languages. These are called "mixed languages". The best understood are Gurindji Kriol and Light Warlpiri, both spoken in the Northern Territory. These languages contain words and grammar from Gurindji or Warlpiri, and Kriol.

At first glance, mixed languages like Gurindji Kriol seem like a cacaphony of competing elements from Gurindji and Kriol. But Gurindji Kriol is far from being a random mix. If you ask 20 Gurindji 30-year-olds to describe something, they will give you the same combination of Gurindji and Kriol words and grammar.

Gurindji Kriol is the product of splicing and re-fusing the lexicons and grammars of Gurindji and Kriol. The result is a unique linguistic system which bears some resemblance to Gurindji and Kriol but is quite unlike its parent languages.

Languages like Gurindji Kriol and Light Warlpiri are incredibly rare. Elsewhere in the world, this highly complex level of mixing has been been observed only in Canada with Michif, a French-Cree mixed language, and in Russia with Mednyj Aleut, a Russian-Aleut mixed language.

How did these new languages come to exist?

Gurindji Kriol and Light Warlpiri come from the long-held tradition of Indigenous multilingualism and fluid language-switching practices. Hundreds of years before Gurindji Kriol emerged, Gurindji speakers were fluent in Jaminjung, a neighbouring language, and borrowed 30% of its verbs and nouns from this language. In the last 50 years, Kriol has been added to the mutlilingual reportoire and switching practices of Gurindji people, and Gurindji Kriol has emerged as a result.

Older generations are disparaging about new languages like Gurindji Kriol. Of course you would be hard pressed to find an older person who approves of a teenager's speech anywhere in the world, but the feeling runs deeper in Indigenous communities due to the heavy loss of traditional languages. The new languages are potentially threatening to communities which maintain a strong ideological link between identity and language. Despite the concern of older people, the younger generations who create these new languages assert their identity through them as one grounded in both tradition and modernity.

And now it is these languages that are being learnt as a first language by their children - not traditional languages and not English - and it is these that children enter school with.

For policy-makers, particularly in education, new Indigenous languages have largely gone under the radar. Where these languages are noticed, educators often view them through the lens of English or traditional languages, and label them as substandard. Yet a knowledge of them is important to tailoring educational programs which take into account the first language of a student.

Anyone who has learnt another language knows that we come equipped with the knowledge of our first language. The process of learning involves mapping a path between these languages. To that end, understanding the first language of Indigenous children is essential to producing better education outcomes. And for the new Indigenous languages, more research is required to better understand the unique nature of these languages.

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While old Indigenous languages disappear, new ones evolve

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By now we know that traditional Indigenous languages are losing speakers rapidly and tragically. Of the 250 languages once spoken in Australia, only 40 remain and just 18 of these are still learnt by children. But if children in remote Indigenous communities aren't still learning traditional languages, then what are they learning?

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Updated June 15, 2016 13:44:06

A Queensland linguistic researcher believes Australians have learnt to embrace their broad national accent and that "bogans feel solidarity" in the way they speak.

Dr Michael Carey from the University of the Sunshine Coast has been presenting workshops discussing the evolution of Australia's distinct dialect.

His 20 years of research has looked at the effect culture has had on the Australian language and how diversity in language should be embraced.

"One of the most interesting findings in recent years has resulted from comparative acoustic studies of Australian-accented speech," he said.

"Research has overturned many of the previous common beliefs about the Australian English accent.

For instance, some made jokes about our accent, saying that we don't open our mouths when we speak, supposedly to keep out the flies.

"Acoustic analysis has revealed that we open our mouths more, or more accurately, we have a lower tongue position for certain vowels such as those in 'had' and 'mate' than other dialects of English, including the variety spoken by the Queen of England."

He said the Australian accent had changed since the pressure from Britain to hold onto a "cultivated Australian accent".

"[Originally] the language was a reaction coming from Britain in 1850, when received pronunciation known as BBC English, Cambridge or Queen's English was used," he said.

"I think now we've discovered our identity as there's been a long period of cultural cringe.

"Tim Winton once referred to it as something that had died and was undergoing a long death when he was growing up.

"Now there's an optimism and confidence in Australia and we now proudly tell our stories in our various Australian accents."

Through his work, Dr Carey has spoken to parents and educators about the changes and philosophies behind the Australian curriculum, particularly viewing language variation as a topic of diversity and tolerance.

"Although we all speak different and use different grammar, we have to be more tolerant of each other," he told 612 ABC Brisbane's Katrina Davidson.

'No perfect Australian accent'

Dr Carey said the broad "typical" Australian accent was bigger in the past but had been shrinking as the population became more "general speakers".

"With Australian accents you can't always pin down to a particular state, yet the broadness has become one of the accents that has been on a social continuum in Australia," he said.

"We're more homogenous here in Australia when it comes to those regional accents.

"There's no perfect Australian accent; I think people think there's a standard way to speak, but we don't have a class system here like they did in England."

He said Australia's multicultural society had created many subcategories of Australian English.

"There are many speakers that fit into ethno-cultural categories like Lebanese English or Greek English as well as Indigenous English," Dr Carey said.

"Also when you look at a category such as bogan speak, you can break it down into further subcategories with the ethno-cultural groups too.

I really think bogans feel some kind of solidarity to the way they speak.

"In the spirit of giving people a fair go, we didn't have the system like in the UK where you were marginalised or categorised if you belonged to a socio-cultural dialect group."

The rural 'long-vowel' accent

Dr Carey said Australians had come to love broad speakers, usually from rural areas.

"I don't think we need to see the nasal accent or broad, rural slower accent as something undesirable," he said.

"That style of language has been typified by longer vowels and are different to general speakers ... but we like them now."

He said the accent had become a projection of the person.

"It involves the pride people have in that dialect that others might marginalise ... I think it's not just the accent but people themselves," Dr Carey said.

"If you're an Australian from a rural area you grow up with that philosophy and that way of being."

Topics: languages, education, speech, human-interest, brisbane-4000, australia, maroochydore-4558

First posted June 15, 2016 13:41:06

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'Bogans feel solidarity': The evolution of the Aussie accent

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Updated June 15, 2016 13:44:06 A Queensland linguistic researcher believes Australians have learnt to embrace their broad national accent and that "bogans feel solidarity" in the way they speak. Dr Michael Carey from the University of the Sunshine Coast has been presenting workshops discussing the evolution of Australia's distinct dialect.

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Why Doesn't English Have A Gender-Neutral Pronoun?

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Why Doesn't English Have A Gender-Neutral Pronoun?

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Semantics and political correctness

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Referring to a single person who may be of any gender in English can be tricky. It can be awkward to use words like "one" or phrases like "he or she," and many a grammarian hates using "they" as to refer to a single person. How has English gotten this far without such a convenient pronoun? Actually, it hasn't.
Top image by Semmick Photo/Shutterstock.
Certainly, it's polite to refer to a real human being by whatever set of pronouns they feel best describes them, whether those pronouns are common in English or not. But when referring to a hypothetical person who may be of any gender, English can be a bit clunky. For centuries, students of English grammar have been encouraged to write "he," "him," and "his," when referring to a person who could be either male or female (the idea that a person might not fall into either category likely didn't occur to 18th-century prescriptivists).

More recently, efforts to make the language less sexist have placed an emphasis on "one" as a generic personal pronoun (as in "If one wants to do well on the test, one should study hard.") and "he or she" (as in "Each student should place his or her name at the top of his or her paper."). While we do see these pronoun usages in text, they come off as quite formal and awkward for everyday speech. (Plus, "he or she" suggests that that your hypothetical person is a "he" or a "she.") "It" still pretty firmly refers to inanimate objects and, sometimes, non-human animals. In most cases, English-speakers consider referring to a human as "it" as, well, dehumanising.

"They," on the other hand, is a pronoun on the rise. While many folks hate seeing "they" used as a singular pronoun, some grammarians are starting to recommend it as a generic singular pronoun. After all, English speakers already commonly use "they," "their," and "theirs" to refer to a single person and it causes little confusion. It makes sense; centuries ago, "they" was a well-accepted singular personal pronoun.

A Brief History of "They"

The truth is, English isn't completely bereft of generic singular personal pronouns. The American Heritage's A Practical and Authoritative Guide to Contemporary English (via Nonbinary.org) notes that "a" exists in some British dialects as a "common-gender pronoun," and in Grammar and Gender, Dennis Baron points to the 18th-century linguist William H. Marshall, who recorded the use of "ou" to refer to a person of any gender. But the gender-neutral pronoun that came to dominate the English landscape is "they."

Going back as far as the 14th century, "they" was a perfectly acceptable pronoun for referring to a singular individual. Chaucer used it that way. So did Shakespeare. So what happened?

Well, the 18th century happened. Numerous grammarians appear on the scene during this period, trying to wrangle the English language into something pretty and clean and standard. One of those grammarians is Ann Fisher, who likely was the first woman to write a prescriptive English Grammar, titled A New Grammar, in 1745. In his book The Language Wars: A History of Proper English, Henry Hitchings credits Fisher with promoting the idea that "he" should function as a generic pronoun, one that might refer to someone who could be male or female. Fisher wrote:

The Masculine Person answers to the general Name, which comprehends both Male and Female; as, Any Person who knows what he says.

According to Hitchings, grammarian John Kirkby followed Fisher's pronoun lead, and things snowballed from there. In 1850, an Act of Parliament declared that, in the language of other Acts of Parliament, the pronoun "he" would be understood to cover male and female people. Of course, while grammar texts may have frowned upon "they" as a singular pronoun, it hardly disappeared from the language or even from great literature. Crack open Jane Austen, and you'll find plenty of singular "they"s.

But when later grammarians aimed to make language less sexist, they were working off of the prescription that "he" could refer to any hypothetical person, male or female. And while prescriptive grammar has tried to include female pronouns for hypothetical people, it has lagged behind on gender neutrality.

The Future of Pronouns?

Even with "they" gaining more acceptance (or rather, re-accpetance) as a singular epicene pronoun, there's the sense that something is missing in the English language, a set of pronouns specifically designed to follow the pattern of he/him/his she/her/hers while not referring to either gender. This isn't a particularly new idea. Baron has found proposals for artificially created gender-common pronouns going back to the mid 19th century. ( You can see a few of those proposed pronouns here.)

And we're starting to see new pronouns gaining acceptance on a government level. Last year, the Vancouver School Board officially adopted a policy of using xe/xem/xyr for students for whom gender labels are inappropriate. Non-English-speaking countries are also making strides in this department, with Sweden introducing a new, non-gendered pronoun and Germany no longer requiring gender on birth certificates. So while the shifting "they" is part of the story when it comes to singular epicene pronouns, chances are it won't be the whole story.

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Why Doesn't English Have A Gender-Neutral Pronoun?

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Referring to a single person who may be of any gender in English can be tricky. It can be awkward to use words like "one" or phrases like "he or she," and many a grammarian hates using "they" as to refer to a single person.

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Semantic change (meaning shift, narrowing, broadening)

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Semantics and group identity
(click 'view original')

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To a new user, Reddit may seem like a confusing jumble of text, numbers, pictures and acronyms.

The site has a bit of learning curve, and one of the most confusing aspects of the site is the lingo spoken by its users.

Consisting of made-up words, acronyms and shorthands, Reddit's jargon can seem overwhelming. Being home to such a large community that is constantly growing, changing, and evolving can feel pretty intimidating to an amateur redditor (Reddit users) to catch up and utilize the site to its fullest.

When you're done schooling yourself with this beginners' guide to Reddit, brush up on your Reddit terminology, explained in none other than GIFs.

BONUS: The Beginner's Guide to Reddit [VIDEO]

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To a new user, Reddit may seem like a confusing jumble of text, numbers, pictures and acronyms. The site has a bit of learning curve, and one of the most confusing aspects of the site is the lingo spoken by its users. Consisting of made-up words, acronyms and shorthands, Reddit's jargon can seem overwhelming.

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A Decline of Language But Not Identity: Tifinagh in Egypt's Siwa Oasis

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A Decline of Language But Not Identity: Tifinagh in Egypt's Siwa Oasis

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How language does not always influence identity

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A Decline of Language But Not Identity: Tifinagh in Egypt's Siwa Oasis

Wandering through the Siwan marketplace, passing cartons filled with dates freshly picked from the towering palm trees, olives well-preserved for months, and handmade scarves full of colorful embroidered symbols made by the Siwan women within their homes, makes the curious traveler stop to find out more.

Mesmerized by the seemingly elusive symbols, the traveler inquires about the symbols' meanings, yet only a few shopkeepers are able to decipher its context. In fact, the colors and symbols, unquestionably unique and striking to the eye, each represents a specific sound within the spoken language, commonly referred to in Siwan as Ejlan ni Siwan. Tifinagh or the traditional alphabet - which is used by the Amazigh in North Africa - is not well understood within the Siwan community.

The Amazigh, a distinct ethnic group whose communities can be found with a larger population in Morocco and Algeria, are also represented in Tunisia, Libya, Niger and Egypt. The latter community, residing in Egypt's Siwa Oasis, is experiencing a transition in their cultural identity because although everyone speaks the language represented by the ancient script, they are unable to read the symbols.

The idea of a modern Siwan man or woman who can read and understand their native language script is rare. Ironically, sources like Wikipedia tend to be just as educational to the Siwans as they are to the foreigner who looks into this community from the outside with curiosity.

For the women who embroider these symbols into scarves and traditional wedding attire, the tradition has remained as a social endeavor, as opposed to a language learning opportunity. Siwan women continue to make these garments as a means for profit, with the main aim of supporting their local economy; meanwhile, the knowledge of their own language continues to plummet.

Ismail Snosy Gagy, a young Siwan currently witnessing the loss of his language, sat down for an interview with AUC Times to describe the current state of the language and the Siwan identity. He explains that "the language is dying" and nowadays Siwans communicate by "mixing words," using both Arabic and Ejlan ni Siwan (Siwan language) interchangeably. Within the community, there is a tendency to mix Egyptian Arabic with the now only-spoken dialect, and this process has been taking place within a 200-year time span.

Part of this linguistic transition is due to the religious traditions and terminologies from the Quran that have infiltrated the way Siwans speak. And to add to this idiomatic dilemma, Siwans are also experiencing an ideological dilemma that comes from the fact that the Siwa Oasis is officially located within the territorial boundaries of Egypt.

What Ismail sees for the future of the Siwan identity is a crisis, a loss of the true Siwan identity. "I wish I can stop it," he admits, with respect to its changing nature, due to the Egyptian government's restraints on speaking Ejlan ni Siwan. Admittedly, Siwans refrain from speaking their native tongue in schools because many Egyptians do not understand them when they are speaking.

Though part of the problem, the Egyptian government is not fully at fault. Without the Tifinagh literacy to read the symbols that date back as one of the oldest known Phoenician scripts to date, there is a tragic loss of the Siwan language.

Ismail claims that a way to preserve the language is to teach it. With the only known institution being the Royal Institute of the Amazigh Culture (IRCAM) located in Morocco, whose purpose is to "[safeguard and promote] the Amazigh culture and languages," according to the institute, bringing such an academic program to Siwa Oasis appears to be nothing more than wishful thinking.

Not only would this endeavor require compliance within the community itself, but it would also require programs supported by the Egyptian government. The existence of IRCAM in Morocco shows how much the Moroccan government values the native Amazigh community that exists within the Moroccan borders - a value that has yet to be experienced by the Egyptian government for their local Amazigh community.

It might seem tragic to witness the loss of a language, but for Siwans today, they still identify with the traditions and ways of life that have been around for thousands of years. Ismail describes himself in terms of two identities: One that is Siwan and one that is Egyptian. Due to the fact that Siwa Oasis is located within Egyptian territory, Siwans' Egyptian identity is solely based on their identification cards and their mandatory military service, as Ismail notes. On the other hand, his Siwan identity is based on his culture and how he was raised within the traditions of Siwa. When he says "I am Siwan,'' he refers to "my land, my family" and the fact that "we can survive with other Siwans." It is "being with the community, the culture and [understanding the best ways of] surviving in the desert."

The fact that Siwans need each other and understand each other is what makes each one a Siwan. They survive together and understand their own land that is surrounded by the desert. This is certainly a contrast to identifying as being Egyptian because, in terms of their ways of life and survival in the desert, the Egyptian government does not support the Siwans.

As the outside world continues to interact with the Siwans' simple lifestyle, and English becomes the language most sought after by many Siwan men dealing in tourism, Siwa is threatened by those who seek profit as opposed to cultural preservation.

Ismail, who now lives in Cairo's Dokki district and works as an employee for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), hopes to have a positive influence on his people. He might not be equipped to bring back the dying language, but he has the potential to show that speaking English and Arabic can go further than simply bringing in money from tourism. His ambitions reach high and he holds the Siwan identity with pride, and with these tools in hand, he is able to show that even though Tifinagh literacy is nonexistent in Siwa Oasis, the Siwan identity does not have to die with it.

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A Decline of Language But Not Identity: Tifinagh in Egypt's Siwa Oasis

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Wandering through the Siwan marketplace, passing cartons filled with dates freshly picked from the towering palm trees, olives well-preserved for months, and handmade scarves full of colorful embroidered symbols made by the Siwan women within their homes, makes the curious traveler stop to find out more.

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Using Aussie slang makes you more likeable, ANU study find

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Using Aussie slang makes you more likeable, ANU study find

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Language that creates in-group membership and identity

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Updated March 25, 2016 01:32:41

Using slang words ending in 'ie' or 'o', such as truckie and ambo, makes you more likeable to your fellow Australians, a study has found.

Dr Evan Kidd said the team of Australian National University researchers were interested in the social effects of particular kinds of slang where people shorten words to end in the 'ie' or 'o' sound.

"These terms are ironically called hypocoristics which is a very long name for a very short words," he said.

"These are words like 'truckie' for truck driver, 'uggies' for ugg boots, 'ambo' for ambulance drivers and things like that."

If you're an obvious member of Australian culture because of your accent, then using these slang terms increases your likeability

The study was undertaken with an actor who spoke to participants using either shortened or unshortened Australian terms, who were then asked to rate the actor's likeability.

"What we found is that when the actor used the slang words, the participant likes them more after the experiment finished than if they didn't use them," Dr Kidd said.

As well as showing that people who use slang are more liked by Australians, the research also found that any accent was equally important in influencing results.

Study considers effects of race, gender

Dr Kidd said they used actors of different genders and races in the study to see if it had any effect on the results.

"Initially we used what you might think of as prototypical Australian, so white Caucasian Australians and we wanted to see if there was an effect of gender on that," he said.

"We found that [gender] didn't have any effect, we still found this likeability effect in general.

"Then what we did was [get] a person of Asian background who spoke with an Australian accent, but also in another condition pretended to have a different accent.

"What we found was that when she spoke with an Australian accent we found the same likeability effect for her, but we didn't find it when she spoke in a foreign accent."

Dr Kidd said having an Australian accent was key to being liked because it identified people as a member of the national culture.

"If you're an obvious member of Australian culture because of your accent then using these slang terms increases your likeability," he said.

"If you don't speak with an Australian accent it doesn't decrease it at all, it just doesn't have an effect."

Topics: human-interest, community-and-society, australian-national-university-0200, canberra-2600, act, australia

First posted March 24, 2016 15:51:21

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Prefer bickies to biscuits with your arvo tea? Aussies will love you for it

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Updated March 25, 2016 01:32:41 Using slang words ending in 'ie' or 'o', such as truckie and ambo, makes you more likeable to your fellow Australians, a study has found. Dr Evan Kidd said the team of Australian National University researchers were interested in the social effects of particular kinds of slang where people shorten words to end in the 'ie' or 'o' sound.

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Discovery, settlement or invasion? The power of language in Australia's historical narrative.

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Discovery, settlement or invasion? The power of language in Australia's historical narrative.

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Linguistic relativity

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The University of New South Wales recently found itself in a firestorm for reportedly encouraging students to use the terms "invasion", "occupation" or "colonisation" when discussing Captain Cook, who had hitherto often been described as "discovering" Australia in the 18th century, as part of the history of British "settlement".

However, behind this controversy lies a more nuanced debate. To the best of my knowledge, neither the university nor other similar bodies have claimed that there is one appropriate, neutral and value-free term. They merely suggest that "settlement" is "less appropriate" than "invasion" or the other suggested words - "colonisation" or "occupation" - all of which imply different historical and political positions and interpretations. Language matters, and emphasising a change of terminology - or, more importantly, emphasising that there is more than one position and term - demonstrates how much language is implicated in structures of power.

While not directly causal, there is a link between the language you use, the recognition of Indigenous peoples today and the redistribution of wealth, property and power to those peoples. It is not merely about being "politically correct" nor is it restricted to the past.

Captain Cook's diaries

The key significance of the term "invasion" is that it demonstrates force, a lack of negotiation and Indigenous experience and resistance.

Captain Cook's diaries are complex and dense texts that resist easy summary. But from the very first encounter with Indigenous peoples they amply describe a state seeking to take charge of (a portion of) a continent and also the blunt force of physical violence.

Contrary to a common reading of terra nullius as "empty" or no-one's land, Cook and his advisers were eminently aware that "Australia" was not empty. The key point for them was whether property relations could be established between Indigenous people and the land via evident signs of occupation, architecture and/or agricultural cultivation. They could not or would not see such signs and so deemed the land amenable to possession.

Captain Cook by Shutterstock

No treaty was established (hence the move to establish one now), and the force of violence of Cook's encounters were repeated in generations of frontier wars, dispossession and murder. Historians might argue over the details and the extent of such force and violence (witness the so-called "history wars"), but there is ample evidence to attest to it. On that basis, "invasion" has a very different meaning to the much more benign sounding "settlement".

Undoing a historical trend, it also reframes the debate around Indigenous rather than "settler" experience. How different words produce different meanings is an important part of thinking critically about these debates. It is not about telling people what to think, but simply pointing out that what seems "natural" or beyond question is often not, and that language plays a key part in that process.

Terra nullius

The relative merits of these terms are arguably not as important as the fact that many Indigenous people demand, among other strategies, to take greater control of the language used to describe their experiences. It is a crucial sign of respect to listen to those voices (an important part of which is the recognition that there is no one "Indigenous" voice). This means establishing other conventions, for example capitalising Indigenous, highlighting the diversity of Indigenous peoples, and acknowledging Indigenous peoples as the owners and custodians of Australia.

Indigenous dancers by Shutterstock

To do so is not to relinquish critical thinking but to practice it in an environment of respectful dialogue that - at the very least - acknowledges both historical and ongoing injustices, and the relationship between them. The university is not banning language or debate. It is suggesting a preferred language within a broader context of respect, scholarship and political struggle.

Terra nullius was never an established, written doctrine explicitly laid out and followed by "settlers" or enshrined within law. It was a complex mix of philosophical ideas (going back to Hobbes, Locke and others) - loose cultural perceptions and shifting legal practices that were often not explicitly named. This makes it difficult to establish both what it was and how it might have been challenged.

Terra nullius was never about "emptiness". There are many "settler" accounts of signs of occupation, architecture and/or agricultural cultivation, albeit often witnessed on the margins of encampments, particularly in the early days. Those who did venture beyond their immediate environment recorded activities of agriculture and housing, but they often didn't understand them (digging up existing crops without realising that they had been deliberately planted, for example), or set the bar of inclusion above such activities (yes Indigenous people are planting but it is not "proper" agriculture). Or they wilfully ignored such activity for reasons of self-interest to stake their claim to a portion of land.

To that extent, these accounts, and those of Cook before them, present ample evidence to undermine their own claims to Australia. This is often the case under conditions of colonialism. Its beneficiaries are often remarkably adept at tolerating flawed logic at odds with direct evidence when it is in their interest to do so.

Mabo by Shutterstock

However, one of the greatest blows to the idea of terra nullius came from the "Mabo" Native Title decision in 1992 in which Eddie Mabo, a Torres Strait Islander - Australia's second Indigenous community, who live between Papua New Guinea and mainland Australia and in various diasporic communities across Australia - successfully fought for the recognition of their rights as the traditional owners of their land. One of the things that made Mabo's case successful was that it was easier to create an analogy between Torres Strait property relations or agricultural practices and those in European and Australian law than on mainland Australia.

Understanding the key importance of language, Mabo was able to argue that terra nullius did not make sense, even by the establishment's own standards. The great irony was that, because Australia had annexed the Torres Strait in the 1870s, the Mabo case could, in principle at least, set a precedent for the whole of the continent.

So language matters, and scholars in the social sciences and humanities have always been eminently aware of it. But that becomes particularly heightened when language, culture and politics meet in the classroom. In this context, language conventions and style sheets offer useful guidance for teachers and students, but they are the beginning of a discussion, not the end. Handled carefully, they are not just practical guides, much less a closing down of debate; they are an opening for critical thought.

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Discovery, settlement or invasion? The power of language in Australia's historical narrative

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The University of New South Wales recently found itself in a firestorm for reportedly encouraging students to use the terms "invasion", "occupation" or "colonisation" when discussing Captain Cook, who had hitherto often been described as "discovering" Australia in the 18th century, as part of the history of British "settlement".

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Syntax

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Emoji is the fastest growing language ever

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Emoji is the fastest growing language ever

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Linguistic innovation and representation of paralinguistic features in a written form

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EMOJI is now the fastest growing language in the United Kingdom, and many find it easier to communicate using its smiley faces and icons than text, says one linguistics expert.

Vyv Evans from Bangor University claims the group of smiley faces and symbols are evolving faster that ancient languages such as hieroglyphics.

Professor Evans has partnered with telecoms TalkTalk Mobile, which found that eight out of 10 people in the UK have used the symbols and icons to communicate, with 72 per cent of 18- to 25-year-olds adding that they found it easier to put their feelings across using emoji than with words.

Prof Evans said: "Emoji is the fastest growing form of language in history based on its incredible adoption rate and speed of evolution.

"As a visual language emoji has already far eclipsed hieroglyphics, its ancient Egyptian precursor which took centuries to develop." However, it seems this is not a view the wider public share, with emoji now a default keyboard option on most smartphone interfaces, while 29 per cent of those surveyed said they used emoji in at least half of their messages.

Prof Evans has partnered with the telecoms firm to create a new online video tutorial called Emoji IQ, which is aimed at improving understanding of the symbols and their meanings.

Andy Murray marked his wedding day last month by tweeting the story of the day entirely in emoji.

Technology giant Apple recently moved to make the faces in their emoji more diverse by adding the option of changing the colour of different faces. The word emoji was also added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2013, with the word coming from the Japanese words meaning picture and character.

MOST POPULAR EMOJI:

1. Smiley face

2. Crying with laughter

3. Love heart

4. Beaming red cheeks

5. Thumbs up

6. Tongue out winking face

7. Blow kiss

8. Wink face

9. Confused

10. See no evil monkey

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Emoji is the fastest growing language ever

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EMOJI is now the fastest growing language in the United Kingdom, and many find it easier to communicate using its smiley faces and icons than text, says one linguistics expert. Vyv Evans from Bangor University claims the group of smiley faces and symbols are evolving faster that ancient languages such as hieroglyphics.

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How 'slanguage' helped form a new national identity

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How 'slanguage' helped form a new national identity

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Linguistic innovation

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Many mainstream Aussie words like "digger" and even the word "Aussie" itself have their origins in the trenches of WWI.

THEY CALLED IT 'slanguage'. A unique language developed by soldiers on the front during World War One. It was a creative fusion of Australian slang, blue words and bits of French and other foreign phrases.

Classic pieces of Australiana, such as "digger" and "dugout", were coined in the trenches. Slanguage even gave us the term "Aussie" - a word originally seen by some as downmarket and lower-class.

This collection of new terms and phrases described the new realities of modern warfare, and it became a fleeting publishing phenomenon. When one of the most famous Australian troop publications was created in 1918, it was called Aussie.

Aussie was highly successful, at home as well as abroad. Ten thousand copies of the first edition were produced; there were 100,000 copies by the third and the whole 13 issues were republished in a bound edition in 1920. Aussie magazine, slanguage and other mementos of trench life are showcased in a recently opened University of Melbourne exhibition.

Aussie magazine, issue 12. CLICK TO ENLARGE. (Source: Author provided)

"Compree", (from the French compris) meant "I understand" or "Do you understand?" "Merci bokoo", obviously, meant thank you (from merci beaucoup). "Finee" meant done, finished ( fini) and if you wanted something done right away, it'd be "toot suite" or "on the toot" ( tout de suite).

Resorting to explicit language in print was of course inconceivable, so commentators on trench life wrote around it in Aussie:

Bert stopped laughing when Bill had used his extensive vocabulary sufficiently.

The editor of Aussie, Phillip Harris, argued in his first editorial:

Others don't like our slanguage. But Aussie would remind these friendly critics that there is a lot of slang in the talk of our Army. And whatever defects our Aussie vernacular may have, it certainly has the virtue of being expressive. Aussie merely aims at being a dinkum Aussie [...] And, after all, the slang to-day is the language of to-morrow.

"Dinkum" was not a preferred term of those friendly critics either, nor was "bonzer" or even "digger". These slang words were associated with a lack of education and an embarrassment to the reputation of Australia, particularly in relation to the home country of many, Great Britain.

Here's AUSSIE. He comes on strength of the A.I.F. [...] His one object in life is to be bright and cheerful and interesting - to reflect that happy spirit and good humour so strongly evident throughout the Aussie Army. [...] And that can only be given by you [the soldiers] in your own language and your own way. [...] In short, make him a dinkum Aussie.

[...] Aussie does not consider that it shows lack of education for a Digger to call a gentleman a Digger-and the Digger who objects to being called a Digger doesn't deserve the compliment. [...]

Bright, cheerful and interesting stories were the primary focus of this magazine created in France, in the field, under the patronage of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF).

For Harris, the Spirit of the AIF was to be found among the soldiery, not in the higher sphere of commandment. To capture that spirit, to get the tone "right", Harris saw the vernacular as it was spoken in the trenches as central to conveying in print the otherwise predominantly oral culture of them.

Aussie magazine, issue 5. CLICK TO ENLARGE.

Indeed, the slanguage of Australian soldiers was quite colourful to say the least, and soldiers took great pride in it.

Swearing was clearly a show of masculinity in this male-dominated environment and strong expletives were well suited to its harsh reality.

Long stretches of expletives were particularly welcome in extreme situations involving fear, anger, frustration, an unwillingness to cooperate and other strong negative emotions. They resulted in a form of reappropriation through the language of a situation that otherwise completely escaped them:

He [a grumpy Australian soldier with a temper to match that of the weather: cold, wet, miserable] vomited three mouthfuls of the great Australian slanguage over the figure on the road [that blocked his way back home with his cart] [...] He emptied another collection of variegated slanguage over her, [..] He asked the atmosphere emphatically what the unprintable language it thought of the woman [which turned out to be a statue] [...]For the first time on record his remarkable accumulation of high-power language had lost its impelling power!

An interesting counter-example may be found in a piece entitled: "Why we should have an instructor in politeness in Corps staff". In this comic story, a caricature of "soft", elaborated language is used amidst the harsh reality of the trenches.

There is also a clear comment on social class and on the old-fashioned values of the "old" world that the British Empire represents: dinkum Aussies have dinkum names and don't talk that talk:

[...]First Digger: Cuthbert, I have reason to believe that the foe has succeeded in striking my shoulder with a projectile. May I beg of you to bind up the wound?
Second Digger: Dear! dear!-how unfortunate! It is almost enough to make one say a wicked word. I shall gladly bind up your wound, Clarence. [...]

Of course it would be misleading to solely equate Aussie magazine with its preoccupation with foul language. In fact, detractors of the magazine were primarily bothered with words like "Aussie".

Harris, who was not a linguist, responded in his second editorial with an incredibly modern statement, that foreshadowed the sociolinguistics (study of language in its social context of production) of the 1960s:

[...] Some say that Aussie is not a nice word. But Aussie is the name that has been practically universally adopted by the Australian soldier for himself. "Aussie" means "Australian soldier" and "Australia". It's short and friendly-like. One seldom hears the word Australia or Australian used over here in our general conversation. Therefore, it is not for Aussie to judge whether it is a good word or a bad one - whether it is a soul-stirring euphony or a lingual catastrophe. It is used by his cobbers and that's good enough for Aussie.

If the impact of Aussie as a title is somewhat lost on 21st century Australian readers, it is clear that back then its claim for one's own distinct identity from other colonial troops and dominions would not have gone unnoticed.

It was 1918, and Australia was slowly coming to terms with its identity, distinct from its British counterparts. Slanguage - celebrated by Aussie magazine - was a powerful tool to shape and claim a new collective identity. Irreverence, self-deprecating humour and (s)language worked hand in hand to sustain that fiercely independent and proud Aussie spirit.
Somewhere in France - Australians on the Western Front is a free exhibition held at the University of Melbourne, Baillieu Library, level 1, Noel Shaw Gallery until 27 June. READ MORE: Diane de Saint Léger is a lecturer in Languages and Linguistics at the University of Melbourne. This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

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How 'slanguage' helped form a new national identity - Australian Geographic

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THEY CALLED IT 'slanguage'. A unique language developed by soldiers on the front during World War One. It was a creative fusion of Australian slang, blue words and bits of French and other foreign phrases. Classic pieces of Australiana, such as "digger" and "dugout", were coined in the trenches.

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It's hard to enforce offensive language laws in a city of 'swearers'

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It's hard to enforce offensive language laws in a city of 'swearers'

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Linguistic determinism

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Updated first published at

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If Bill Heffernan had said "f***, that's risky shit" on the street, the Liberal senator for NSW could have found himself among thousands of Australians whose swearing made them criminals.

Instead, he said it safely in Parliament House last week, although it is wiped from Hansard as if it didn't happen, his pointed view of cross-runway landings saved for posterity only by well-timed Buzzfeed Vine.

Bill Heffernan, Liberal senator for NSW, Credit:Andrew Meares

Heffernan should be able to swear on the potentially catastrophic use of an airport, or on any other topic, without risking criminal sanction or relying on parliamentary privilege to avoid it. It may not make his argument more compelling, but the state shouldn't ban his choice of language.

Dropping four-letter words in public should not allow NSW Police to give anyone a $500 on-the-spot fine. It should not allow a prudish constable to force you to court, where you risk up to 100 hours of community service for breaching the Summary Offences Act prohibition on using "offensive language near, or within hearing from, a public place or school". You risk a lower instant fine for doing worse things, like shoplifting ($300) or entering someone else's car ($250), or blocking traffic ($200).

Self-styled "peace activist" Danny Lim was fined for offensive behaviour after brandishing a sign targeting Prime Minister Tony Abbott. Credit:Jeremy Hillman

Those who challenge their fine in court - arguing that it is not offensive to use "f***" or "c***" or whatever other expletive their creative minds have opted for - may win their case, but it means at least two court appearances. It risks a heftier penalty if a magistrate disagrees with your claimed freedom of profanity.

Former Strathfield councillor-turned- sign waver Danny Lim last week lost his fight over a sign he displayed at Edgecliff that read "Tony Abbott can't", except the 'a' in 'can't' was upside down, suggesting the choicest of Anglo-Saxisms.

Reports suggested he was charged with offensive behaviour, rather than offensive language, which carries the same $500 instant fine, but allows a court to impose three months' jail.

His conduct is hardly advisable, but using swear word proxies on a sign should not make him a criminal, unless his accompanying actions were so distracting as to put in danger passing motorists.

His case is similar to that of Paul Cohen, who in 1968 wore a jacket with "f*** the draft" scrawled on it to a Los Angeles courthouse at the height of the Vietnam War. He got 30 days' jail for breaching California's offensive conduct law.

In the inevitable US Supreme Court decision, Cohen v California, a majority of one overturned his conviction on free speech grounds, finding the state had not right to "cleanse public debate to the point where it is grammatically palatable to the most squeamish among us".

"While the particular four-letter word being litigated here is perhaps more distasteful than most others of its genre, it is nevertheless often true that one man's vulgarity is another's lyric," the majority found.

Australia does not have such a broad free-speech protection, and the criminalisation of swearing is far from an isolated problem about dumb political signs.

Most states ban offensive language, and in NSW police recorded more than 111,000 offensive language incidents between 1995 and 2014.

Enforcement is patchy, with the small area covered by the City of Sydney apparently the most sweary in the state, by far, with 7501 incidents detected by police. It was well ahead of second sweariest, Blacktown (4269), and those jostling for third: Penrith (2965), Campbelltown (2646), Newcastle (2718), and Gosford (2567).

Lord Howe Island must have either very polite people, or an understanding constabulary. Just one incident was recorded in the same 20 years.

Local Court statistics show it dealt with 1340 people guilty of the offence in the four years to September, most of whom were convicted and fined, while an unfortunate few received community service. Some, if not most, would have also been charged with other offences, the language crime tacked on the end by police who think they should lay as many charges as possible.

All public order offences tend to catch the most disadvantaged, like the homeless, who don't have private places in which to swear. They tend to be less able to challenge the charge.

But of all such offences, criminalising swearing, which may be hard on the ear and irritating to bear, seems so pointless. It should make no-one a criminal, not even Bill Heffernan.

Tim Dick is a Sydney lawyer. Twitter: dick_tim

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It's hard to enforce offensive language laws in a city of 'swearers'

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Updated first published at Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size If Bill Heffernan had said "f***, that's risky shit" on the street, the Liberal senator for NSW could have found himself among thousands of Australians whose swearing made them criminals.